In the framework of a conversion of a feature control signaling, an item of feature control information is extracted from a protocol-specific feature control message of a communication network and is transmitted to a feature-neutral coordination module. The coordination module then relays the item of feature control information to a feature-specific conversion module, which converts the relayed item of feature control information into an item of feature control information, which is subsequently inserted into another protocol-specific feature control message and is transmitted therewith into another communication network.
Legal claims defining the scope of protection, as filed with the USPTO.
1. A method of converting service feature control signaling information at a point of transition between first and second communications networks using different signaling protocols, comprising: extracting service feature control information from a protocol-specific service feature control message of the first communications network using a protocol-specific access module; transmitting the extracted service feature control information to a service feature-neutral coordination module; assigning the extracted service feature control information using the service feature-neutral coordination module to at least one service feature-specific conversion module; relaying the extracted service feature control information to the at least one conversion module; converting the relayed service feature control information using the at least one conversion module into service feature control information specific to the second communications network; and inserting the service feature control information specific to the second communications network using a further protocol-specific access module into a further protocol-specific service feature control message which is transmitted into the second communications network.
2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the relayed service feature control information and the service feature control information specific to the second communications network are transferred between the access modules, the coordination module and the at least one conversion module by asynchronous messages.
3. The method according to claim 2 , wherein the at least one conversion module registers with the coordination module by transmitting, to the coordination module, service feature information that specifies which of the converted relayed service feature control information is to be assigned to the conversion module.
4. The method according to claim 3 , wherein status information about a status of a connection is assigned by the coordination module to the at least one conversion module and is relayed to the at least one conversion module.
5. The method according to claim 4 , wherein connection control information to control a connection is formed by the at least one conversion module as a function of the converted relayed service feature control information relating to the connection and/or status information of the connection and relayed by the coordination module to an access module.
6. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the at least one conversion module registers with the coordination module by transmitting, to the coordination module, service feature information that specifies which of the converted relayed service feature control information is to be assigned to the conversion module.
7. The method according to claim 1 , wherein status information about a status of a connection is assigned by the coordination module to the at least one conversion module and is relayed to the at least one conversion module.
8. The method according to claim 1 , wherein connection control information to control a connection is formed by the at least one conversion module as a function of the converted relayed service feature control information relating to the connection and/or status information of the connection and relayed by the coordination module to an access module.
9. A gateway device to convert service feature control signaling information at a point of transition between first and second communication networks using different signaling protocols, comprising: first and second protocol-specific access modules corresponding to the first and second communication networks, respectively, extracting and inserting first and second service feature control information out of and into protocol-specific service feature control messages of the corresponding first and second communication networks; a service feature-specific conversion module converting one of the first and second service feature control information extracted from one of the corresponding first or second communication network into the other of the first and second service feature control information specific to the other of the first and second communication network; and a service feature-neutral coordination module assigning an extracted item from the one of the first and second service feature control information to the service feature-specific conversion module, and transmitting the item of the one of the first and second service feature control information between the service feature-specific conversion module and the corresponding first and second protocol-specific access modules.
10. The gateway device according to claim 9 , wherein the protocol specific access module comprises: a first access module accessing the first communication network comprising a circuit-switched communication network; and a second access module accessing the second communication network comprising a packet-switched communication network, and the conversion module converts between the first and second service feature control information comprising packet-oriented and circuit-oriented service feature control information, respectively.
11. The gateway device according to claim 10 , wherein the coordination module comprises an assignment table in which operation codes contained in the first service feature control information, each code identifying a service feature control operation assigned to the at least one of the service feature-specific conversion modules.
12. The gateway device according to claim 11 , wherein the coordination module is an instance of a programmed object class.
13. The gateway device according to claim 12 , wherein the first and second access modules and/or the conversion modules are each an instance of a programmed object class.
14. The gateway device according to claim 13 , wherein the first and second access modules are generated as instances as soon as the protocol-specific service feature control message is received during a connection.
15. The gateway device according to claim 9 , wherein the coordination module comprises an assignment table in which operation codes contained in the first service feature control information and each identifying a service feature control operation assigned to the at least one of the service feature-specific conversion modules.
16. The gateway device according to claim 9 , wherein the coordination module is an instance of a programmed object class.
17. The gateway device according to claim 9 , wherein the first and second access modules and/or the conversion modules are each an instance of a programmed object class.
18. The gateway device according to claim 17 , wherein the first and second access modules are generated as instances as soon as the protocol-specific service feature control message is received during a connection.
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September 11, 2001
August 12, 2008
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